Located on a busy urban thoroughfare, an existing affordable housing project for seniors had an issue with smoking habits of residents. The no-smoking policies cause residents to go outside, but, contrary to the building rules, they remained too close to the entry and caused conflicts between smokers and non-smokers. The smoking near the building also caused a marketing issue for the building with a continuing problem of butts at the building entry.
The program:
1. Establish a defined space for smoking away from front door.
2. Keep the smoking activities “hidden” for facility image.
3. Make the shelter safe and pleasant for the users.
The solution:
A space was conceived as an assemblage of filters to control view into the shelter. The shelter is to be perceived as opaque during the day when the sun reflects off the stainless steel mesh and the occupants remain invisible. Passers-by see a yard sculpture. The screen filters appear transparent at night when safety concerns require the occupants to be seen. The project was a pro-bono design effort with the designers’ also responsible for painting in order to meet the budget.
No designers smoked during the making of this shelter.
